Really Epic Potato Salad

We’re going to my husband’s granny’s party in the New Forest this evening, and we are all chipping in with the food, bring and share style. Our contribution is potato salad, because, who doesn’t like potato salad, right?

I am sharing my recipe because it is delicious, and easy, and everyone should have a failsafe recipe for potato salad.

To make this really epic potato salad, you’ll need:

1 kg baby new or salad potatoes

2 eggs

as much or as little mayonnaise as you like.

1-2 tsp white wine vinegar

100g pancetta or bacon

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 spring onion (scallions)

a small bunch of chives

1) Cut the potatoes into chunks, roughly the same size. There is no need to peel, as the skin is very thin. Put on to boil. They should take between 10 and 20 minutes to cook. When the potatoes are parboiled, add both the eggs to the pan and leave to hard boil.

2) Once cooked, allow the potatoes to cool in a large bowl. Shell the eggs and mash with a fork in a separate bowl. You’ll end up making an egg mayonnaise mixture which will then be added to the potatoes. Depending on how creamy you like your potato salad, spoon in the mayonnaise. I used half a large jar which equated to roughly 4 tablespoons. Then finely chop your spring onions (or scallions to our friends across the pond) and add them to the egg mayonnaise. Add in the black mustard seeds, the teaspoon of dijon mustard and the vinegar to slacken the mix. Combine well.

3) Now it’s time to add your meat. I use cubetti di pancetta for this, because it’s readily available in my supermarket and I am a firm believer that anything that makes my life easier is a good thing. But if you can’t get it already cubed, or even at all, then either cut up or substitute for bacon. Your potato salad will not suffer for either. Anyway, cook the pancetta and throw that in, along with some of its rendered fat, to the same bowl as the now cool potatoes. I add some of the fat because fat makes things taste good. It’s as simple as that.

4) Finally, combine the egg mayonnaise mix with the potatoes and pancetta. You will need to be quite gentle or the potatoes will break up. Snip the chives over the top using a pair of scissors and try not to eat it all there and then.

PS and ETA: This went down SO WELL at the party. Everyone commented on how yummy it was, and it was the first thing to go. A definite hit!